Love makes the world go around. All the world's
religions point to the power of love as central
to what it means to be alive. Life offers us so
many courses in love, so many chances to refine
and expand our practice and understanding of it.
We start in the nest of the family when we bond
with our parents. Friendship and first love open
our eyes to new possibilities. Marriage and
parenting give us a chance to get love right in
another family setting. And all along, we are
encouraged to practice loving in our everyday
relationships.

The love of God says, “I’ll call
the unloved and make them beloved” (Romans 9:25
MSG). Our love depends on the receiver of the
love. Let a thousand people pass before us, and
we will not feel the same about each. Our love
will be regulated by their appearance,
personalities, social statues, color of their
skin, and the list goes on. Even when we find a
few people we like, our feelings will fluctuate.
How they treat us will affect how we love them.
The receiver regulates our love.

Not so with the
love of God. We have no thermostatic impact on
His love for us. The love of God is born from
within Him, not from what He finds in us. His
love is uncaused and spontaneous. Does He love
us because of our goodness? Because of our
kindness? Because of our great faith? No, He
loves us because of His goodness, kindness, and
great faith.

Raymond & Sandy Howard

Valentine's Day comes in February and so it is
traditional to celebrate love this month. We'll
be doing so by featuring our love story; Raymond
Howard and Sandy (Morris) Howard were married
February 14th, 2012. It was the
quickest wedding I’ve ever attended,(LOL). Room
doesn’t allow telling their complete story,
which by the way is still being written, but God
has brought these two from a long difficult
journey to a sweet and joyful home full of His
love. We are so grateful that these two love
birds are part of our family. Raymond’s video
testimony can be seen on our web sitewww.deliveredfrommeth.comclick
testimonies. Also several messages by Raymond
can be heard by clicking on audio sermons. Sandy
is working on putting her testimony together
soon.

Easter Egg Hunt/Family Day

Last Year’s Easter Egg Hunt was such a success
we decided to make it an annual event. We are
looking into several different ways of improving
it and making it a family affair. We are looking
into all kinds of different and exciting
activities for the kids, both young and old.
Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 31stat
3 PM. The date is for sure, God willing, but
times may change depending on what we come up
with as far as activities. There will be a pot
luck dinner, fellowship, and praise and worship
from The Recovery Church praise team following
the day’s activities. Check the web site for
updates as Easter nears.

Stephen County
Sheriff/Jail

We are excited about what’s going on in the
jails this year. God is continuing to do great
works in the jail and we feel this year will be
even better. A family purchased and donated some
new updated equipment for our video’s and
seminars and it is a tremendous blessing to the
Chaplains. Harold Green, Josh Holt, Sandy
Gabriel and Pat Ellis will be assisting me this
year, along with the other Chaplains. It’s very
inspiring for the men in jail to see that a
relationship with Jesus and following His ways
does really change one’s life. Sheriff McKinney,
David Horn, F.L. Estes, Jim McNair, and the
entire department are to be commended for
allowing the work of our Lord to continue as it
has.

Renovation/Expansion

The renovation and expansion of our church is
finally coming to a close. Seems like we have
been 10 years, but actually it’s only been 6
months. The relationships which have grown from
so many different people, from such different
backgrounds, working together for a single
cause, have been phenomenal. Family bonds have
developed and deepened and united this body even
closer. People from very different backgrounds
is what Jesus used turn the world upside down
and He’s still doing it today. We would like to
pay a special thanks to Sharon Cain of the
Stephens county drug court and all the great
folks at the pardon and parole office for the
community service laborers. We work hard with
these great men and women in helping change our
community by put lives back together one at a
time.

Some of The Recovery Church Team

In closing I would like to share
something the Lord has shown us of late about
the 12 ordinary people He used to change the
world. From a tax collector to an
insurrectionist, talk about different
personalities, backgrounds, and professions. In
all likelihood these two hated each other. Yet
these men spent a couple years with Jesus and
after His accession God used them to change the
world. The 12 were gathered at Pentecost with
over 100 others when the Holy Spirit came and
through their obedience and love for one another
the Kingdom of God that begin as a mustard seed
is continuing to conquer the world. The
disciples had faults and character flaws. They
were incredibly ordinary just like you and me.
Yet these men were transformed and learned to
love one another in spite of one another and are
still influencing the world today. God delights
in using the ordinary for His extraordinary
purposes. They were not orators or theologians.
Their natural talents and intellectual abilities
were in no way outstanding. They were prone to
failure, none more so than Peter, the leader.
Jesus even stated that they were slow learners
and spiritually dense (Luke 24:25). Yet, after
little more than eighteen months of training,
they changed the world. “…the ultimate success
of the strategy actually depended on the Holy
Spirit working in those men to accomplish His
sovereign will. It was a mission that could not
be thwarted. That’s why it was a work for which
God alone deserves praise and glory. To Him
alone is the praise and glory “Those men were
merely instruments in His hands just as you and
I can be God’s instruments today.

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE

“For
with God nothing shall be impossible." Luke
1:37.

What a statement! If we just believed this, how
different our lives would be! From birth we are
trained to know our limitations. You can't have
this. Don't touch that. Don't put things in your
mouth. You can't touch the fire. On and on the
list goes. As we grow up, it's actually a sign
of maturity to recognize our limitations and
learn to live within them. There are limits to
everything. It's a fact of life. But God has no
limits. When we enter into the realm of the
supernatural, we have to take off all the
limits. We have to renew our minds with the
truth that God is not like us. He can do
anything. We have an awesome God whose power is
so great that we can't even comprehend it. He
created the universe and it didn't even tax His
ability. Yet many times we find ourselves
wondering if our situation is too hard for the
Lord. We can't see how even God can pull us
through. The Lord said to Jeremiah, "Behold, I
am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there
anything too hard for me?" (Jer. 32:27) The
answer is a resounding NO! The only thing that
limits God is our unbelief (Dt. 7:17). Today,
let's honor God by believing that nothing is too
difficult for Him.

Tuesday, February 28th, we will
discuss the characteristic of "Discretion
vs. Simple-Mindedness". Discretion is using
wisdom to avoid damaging attitudes, words,
and actions that could result in undesirable
consequences and also to give insightful
counsel.

Sunday, March 4th, 2012,I
will bring a two part message "Do Not Cast
Pearls" taken from Jesus' command. " Give
not that which is holy unto the dogs,
neither cast ye your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet, and
turn again and rend you" (Matthew
7:6).Morning service begins at 10:30 AM and
evening service is at 6 PM. Evening service
will always have a time for personal
testimonies.

Sunday Morning Explore and Discuss the
Bible with Dwain & Arvel Adkins. Begins at
9:30 AM. This month the Book of Luke: The
Truth About Jesus.

Praise & Worship begins at 10:30, Message
by Dennis Hall at 11:15--Evening Service
Begins at 6 PM with Personal Testimonies.

If you would like to become a partner in
this ministry, please make out support
checks in the name of The Recovery Church,
P.O. Box 2117, Duncan, OK. 73534. Thank you
and may God richly bless all you do in ways
that only He can.

Loving God-Loving
People-Serving Both-While Serving Our
Community. Changing Our World One Life at a
Time